A knock on my door brought me from my stupor. Without prompting, it opened and Pecta strolled in with a small bag over his shoulder. He closed the door and sat down on the chair with crossed legs. “Well, that could have gone better.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Looked pretty normal to me.” Pecta shrugged. “For one, I would have preferred to use different names from the ones we used at the gate. Also, having a failing City Lord is a recipe for disaster.” I didn’t understand his concerns. “Why should we have lied about our names? That sounds unnecessary. And the City Lord isn’t our problem, right?” It was probably bad for the running of the settlement to have an incompetent human leading it, but that shouldn’t affect us.

Pecta leaned back and nodded. “You’re probably right. Just me being paranoid.” He briefly looked out the window before setting his sights on me. “I didn't get the chance to ask earlier, but how are you doing?" I shifted uncomfortably. "I'm... fine, I think," I replied. "Did you want to discuss something?"

Pecta nodded and poured out the contents of his bag onto the table. They included my magic dagger, some miscellaneous items, and a lot of brown and silver coins. “We need to discuss our plan. With this, we won’t have to worry about money for some time. However, we need to be careful. The guards will send a message to the Merchant’s Union, informing them of the fate of their caravan.”

What he didn’t say, was that this message would no doubt reveal that I hadn’t been part of the caravan. I would have loved to just take my time in exploring the human settlement but that wasn’t to be. “How long do I have?”

Pecta thought for a moment. “Sending a message will take time. Probably a couple of weeks. We should discuss what we will do during this time.” I nodded my head and asked the first question that sprang to mind. "How are messages transported?”

“Most letters have to be transported by caravan,” he explained. “If you have money, and I mean a lot of it, then there are the Beast Messengers. They are all part of an organisation that tames monsters and uses them to deliver messages. Bunch of crazy people if you ask me, but their services are very popular. Luckily for us, the Merchant’s Union and the Beast Messengers currently aren’t on very good terms, so it is unlikely that they can use their services.”

I nodded my head, a human custom that I very much liked, and gave a questioning look towards the other items on the table. Pecta got the hint and started to explain. “This is some of the stuff the bandits had on them, which I thought looked valuable.” I took a look at the items he had put on the table, not finding them very useful. I picked up a headband and inspected it. “How is this valuable?” Pecta pointed at a seemingly random spot on the fabric. I squinted and could just make out a series of symbols. Preempting my question, Pecta explained, “This is an artifact blessed by Vesta, Goddess of Wind. It used to belong to the leader of the caravan before he was killed. From his boasting, it keeps the wearer cool and protects them from the sun.”

“What is the sun? Some kind of monster?” I curiously asked. If so then the artifact sounded very useful. Instead of answering, my companion just stared at me. It got to a point where I was starting to feel uncomfortable before he again started speaking. “You are joking, right?”

I shook my head. Pecta pointed exasperated towards the ceiling. “The sun! Large floating orange ball in the sky that gives us warmth and light? Ever heard of it?”

“Ah.” I nodded my head. “The light disk.” Pecta stared into my eyes, trying to see if I was serious, before giving up and moving along. “Anyways, this and some of the other items will make life a whole lot easier for us. This headband alone will save me from having to buy salfar cream. Before you ask, salfar cream is used to protect the skin from the sun and has to be reapplied every week. We humans need it to be able to survive in the desert.” That was certainly interesting. The changes to this body had made it stronger, more durable, and apparently immune against the sun. Living with a parasite had its positives.

“I will check when the next caravan leaves Seran. Living in the middle of the Scorching Barrens has no appeal to me,” Pecta said, outlining his plan to me. “This brings me to my main question: what are your plans? In a couple of weeks, the city guard will realise that the follower of Noctus they let enter lied to them. Things will probably get problematic for you but I am sure that you could just hunker it out until they forget. Trust me, city guards have always more pressing matters to attend to.”

Before Pecta had entered my room I had been debating that exact question. “I don’t know. I’ll probably explore the city for now. Maybe I will join you in leaving with the next caravan. Or maybe not.” I truly wanted to stay by Pecta’s side but I also wanted to explore the world. For now it was best to leave all my options open.

Pecta nodded as if he had expected my answer. He scooped up most of the items but left a stack of coins and my dagger on the table. “This is half of what the bandits had on them. Once I sell some of these items I will also give you half of the earnings. You can do whatever you want with it. Go out, explore the city, and have some fun. Though I recommend that you leave some for the future.” He looked at me oddly. “You don’t know how money works, right?” At my nod, he sighed and started to explain.

There were three types of coins: copper, silver, and gold. They were sometimes referred to as knights, princes, and kings. Why pieces of metal were called human titles was a question that my companion didn’t have an answer to. He did have an answer to why there were two separate names for the currency. People outside the Sanktrum Kingdom only used copper/silver/gold while knight/prince/king was exclusive to the kingdom. Over time the two classifications had mixed so now it was more up to preference what someone used. I personally liked the second one better because it sounded more interesting.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

These three types could each be divided into big and small coins. 10 small copper coins/knights made one big copper coin/knight. 10 big copper coins/knights made one small silver coin/prince, and so on. My split of the loot amounted to 4 princes and two big knights.

According to Pecta, one prince was equal to one month of work for the lower class. Realising what kind of fortune he had just given me made me nervous. “Isn’t it risky to give me all this money?”

Pecta thought for a second. “Thieves should be very common in a city like Seran. So… please go easy on them.” I cocked my head in confusion. “What do you mean?” My companion averted his eyes. “Honestly? After everything I've seen, I don't want to be the thief who tries to steal from you.” I rolled my eyes. “You're being overly dramatic. I'm not that bad.”

"8 bandits.”

"What?"

“Nothing."

I blinked before moving on. “Why give me this money? You could have just taken all of it and I wouldn’t be wiser. I wouldn’t even blame you.” Pecta shifted uncomfortably. It was obvious that my question had struck a nerve, something that I hadn’t intended for it to do. I was just about to retract my statement when he started speaking.

“Before entering your room I had no plans of giving you this money. A voice in the back of my head told me that you wouldn’t know how to use it and that I needed it more. Excluding my part of the loot, I am poor. Just taking the money perfectly alines with some of my... past experiences. Giving part of it to you was a split-second decision. One that the voice in my head is still screaming about.” He gave out a derogatory laugh. “Look at me, debating whether or not to give my traveling companion the reward that he deserves. It’s pathetic. I follow Persa and yet I do it. Truly, I am a failure in the eyes of my goddess and as a good human being.”

A moment of silence settled between us. 'Should I say something? I like him - he is my best and only companion - which makes me partially responsible for making him feel good, I think?' The problem was that I didn't know what to say. I had only been alive for a short period of time and I already had to deal with the complicated emotions of a human. Why was life so hard?!

“I don’t think you are a bad human being,” I started. "I'm not going to act like I know what you're going through or what happened in your past. I don't know what is right or wrong with you humans, but I do know that you’re a good person. You helped me, even though you could have simply left me to die after the bandit fight. It probably made the way to Seran way more difficult, but you did it anyway.” Pecta frowned. “That isn’t anything to be proud of. Anyone would have done the same.”

“Exactly!” I pointed with my finger at him. “The fact that you think that doing it is obviously the right thing proves my point. It doesn’t matter what anyone, even a goddess, thinks of you. You are a good person.”

The silence that filled the room was oppressive. 'That was a good speech, I think?' I waited with bated breath for his reaction. A small smile crept across his face and a chuckle escaped him. That chuckle turned into full-blown laughter. 'Laughter is good.' It took a while for it to die down and when it did the smile remained on his face.

"Thanks. I didn't expect that from you." I awkwardly smiled back at him. Pecta got up and took the bag of items off the table, leaving me a smaller bag to put my money in. "It's time for me to go. I would tell you that the gods will guide your way, but I've got a feeling that doesn't mean much to you. If you need anything, just leave a message in my room.” With that, he turned around and left. The thud of the door closing was the only sound that broke the silence.

I like that guy. The voice in my head made me jump up in a panic and frantically look around the room. After a moment I got my emotions under control and sat back down. "Oh, it's only you Sarvad. Where have you been? I mean, obviously in my head, but why am I only hearing back from you now?"

There was a slight problem with the parasite. It was stronger than I expected. After you left, it launched a much more powerful offensive. That you haven't been able to feel it is all my doing. Without me you wouldn’t exist anymore.

“And I am thankful for that. Now that we have the chance to finally talk, could you explain some stuff to me? How did you get trapped in the mindscape? Why am I controlling your body? Why-“

Enough of that. You will have your answers. I sighed in relief. But first, there is a little favour I have to ask of you. I shrugged. “Go ahead and ask.” I was disappointed and a bit frustrated to have to wait but I owed Sarvad. Even if I didn’t understand it all, I was the reason why he was stuck in the mind scape.

There is this woman. I don’t know her name but people have called her Knowledge Seeker, Administrator, and other titles. Find her. That is the first part of the favour. I frowned. “How am I supposed to recognise-“ Suddenly an image filled my head. A tall figure wearing a white coat and a featureless mask. At first, I thought she was human but then my eyes noticed the irregularity. “Horns?” Two brown curved horns were growing on top of her head. I was immediately fascinated by the thought of a different sentient species. “Where can I find her?”

She will be hiding somewhere here in Seran. Could be close to the underground or maybe the nobles. It doesn’t matter, just find her! The last sentence was spoken with so much emotion that I had to process it for a second. “That still isn’t a lot of information. Sarvad? Sarvad?” But he was already gone.

Sarvad’s request was strange but I at least owed him that. My gaze landed on the coins. Maybe I would find her while exploring the city. Quickly scooping up all the money (which wasn’t exactly easy with my claw) I headed to the door. Suddenly, I noticed a pair of eyes on the wall. I jumped back, while the figure did the same. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that I was staring at a reflection of myself. Come to think of it, Pecta had said that my face was unique. Why was that? Curious, I stepped forward and removed my bandages.

The first thing to note was my pale skin. In comparison to any other human I had ever seen, my body looked downright sickly. My head was all devoid of any type of hair, making it look even more unusual. Like the rest of my body, it was also covered in scars, that looked methodical in their placement. Amidst the scars, my eyes were piercing, like blue bonfires of resolve. The circular pupils stared back at me with such an intensity, that I almost averted my gaze. Just below them was a rather unremarkable nose, that was followed by a mouth filled with white teeth. I looked different from any other human, even without my claw.

I shook my head. That was all interesting but I had a city to explore. Grabbing my things, I exited my room, ready for whatever Seran would throw at me.